Greenwich Tree Conservancy

Greenwich Tree Conservancy Celebrates Arbor Day

Click here to read the full story by Priscilla Lombardi on It’s Relevant.

The Greenwich Tree Conservancy celebrated Arbor Day and its 6th anniversary at McArdle’s Greenhouse Friday night.

Money raised this year will help fund a program that would allow the conservancy to plant trees around parking lots in downtown Greenwich.

“Specifically this year, we are dealing with a new technology called Silva Cell,” said Greenwich Tree Conservancy Executive Director JoAnn Messina. “Which is something that allows us to plant trees in parking lots, on sidewalks, and it can take traffic and the routes don’t get compressed.” Click here to read the full story by Priscilla Lombardi on It’s Relevant.

New Process for Town Tree Warden’s review of P&Z Applications of Town Projects and Public Hearings on Tree Removal

MEMO TO P&Z COMMISSION, TOWN TREE WARDEN
FROM: Diane Fox, Director Planning and Zoning/Town Planner/Zoning Enforcement Coordinator


DATE: June 3, 2011


After discussion with Bruce Spaman, Town Tree Warden, on the current processes of the timing of public hearings of tree removal on Town properties and reviewing the Public Hearings held by the Town Tree Warden on the North Mianus School site, the North Street School site and the High School Auditorium projects, he and I are proposing the following new procedures which we hope will aid the public in knowing earlier in the process about tree removals on Town properties for projects while reducing time and money for town projects.

Based on the experience of the appeals taken by the public on the three recent projects referred to above, Bruce and I have agreed upon the following:

  • Presently when a town project comes to P&Z as a preliminary site plan, it is routed to the Town Tree Warden for his comments. This will continue.
  • When and if the Commission gives consent to allow the applicant to proceed to final site plan, the Town Tree Warden will then post the trees that will need to be removed on and off site so that the public and neighbors can have an early opportunity to see what will be removed and if they desire to file an appeal or request that the Town Tree Warden hold a public hearing on these trees’ removal.
  • The Public hearing on tree removal is held by the Town Tree Warden, and if any trees posted for removal are to remain on site, the final site plan submitted will reflect any site plan changes resulting from this decision. These final plans may require IWWCA re-review or not.
  • Applicant/Town Dept. will submit final site plans to P&Z reflecting the Town Tree Warden’s decision after the 10 day appeal period (of the Tree Warden’s decision) is over.

This procedural change should make the process more transparent, allows the public earlier knowledge of both the project and tree removal, and saves time and money for the submitting town department or agency.

It was noted that the need for this change in the process was not evident in the past, but has become more of an issue within the past few years when town trees are proposed for removal when both town and private projects are submitted, ie. Greenwich Ave project at 410 Greenwich Ave.

It is our hope that the public and town bodies will see this as a positive response to the recent events and we are certainly open to discussion on this issue in public at any time.

MISA Report from Bruce Spaman: Final Decision on 121 Trees Posted for Removal

NOTICE OF FINAL DECISION OF THE TREE WARDEN REGARDING 121 TREES POSTED FOR REMOVAL FOR THE GREENWICH HIGH SCHOOL AUDITORIUM AND MUSIC INSTRUCTION SPACE ADDITION

A public hearing was held on Tuesday May 24, 2011 at 12:00 for 121 trees posted for removal on the campus grounds of Greenwich High School (GHS) for the Greenwich High School Auditorium and Music Instruction Space Addition (MISA) project. As required by Chapter 451, Section 23-59 of the Connecticut General Statutes, a public hearing was called because I had received an appeal objecting to the removal of these trees within ten days of their posting. The 121 trees were generally located on the east and west sides of the high school building with concentrations of trees proposed for removal in or adjacent to the North and South Parking Lots.

The tree diameters range from 4 inches to 32 inches. The tree species and number of trees posted are listed below. Tree heights were estimated to be upwards to 80 – 90 feet. Tree removals in four naturally vegetated areas amounts to clearcutting nearly an acre of trees and other vegetation.

Numerous votes and approvals were required from Municipal boards, commissions and agencies for this proposed project to progress. Those included the Board of Education, Board of Selectmen, the Planning & Zoning Commission, the Inland Wetlands & Watercourses Agency, the Board of Estimate and Taxation and the Representative Town Meeting. The project achieved all of the necessary approvals. The RTM vote was greater than a 2:1 approval (134-60-8).

Continue reading “MISA Report from Bruce Spaman: Final Decision on 121 Trees Posted for Removal”

Please Write to Save Our Street Trees!

The Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA) needs to hear from you! Please write, email or come to one of the two hearings this Wednesday or Thursday to let PURA know that you do not agree with the two electrical utility companies (UI and CL&P) clearing all trees ground to sky 8 feet from either side of an electrical line. This drastic clearing along our roadways has not been proven to increase power reliability however it will diminish the environmental benefits we gain from our trees.

Please review the background information below and write to PURA today!

UTILITY TREE REMOVAL AND PRUNING

United Illuminating has submitted a plan to the Public Utility Regulatory Authority (PURA) which calls for eventual removal of all trees and branches, except right tree/right place trees, within 8 feet on either side of its electric distribution wires from ground to sky (now known as the Utility Protection Zone or UPZ).

CL&P plans call for such removal under or near its distribution wires in much more of its territory than in the past. These plans apply to all towns and cities within UI or CL&P territory

To see what could happen to your street and roadside trees, look up at the electric distribution wires (the top wires) and measure 8 feet to the left and right, ground to sky. Any tall tree or tall growing tree within the UPZ is scheduled to be removed under the UI and CL&P plans, whether it is hazardous or healthy. If not removed, it may be severely pruned.

Two public hearings are scheduled:

PURA NOTICE-CL&P
Wednesday, March 5, 2014
3 pm – Technical Meeting
6:30 pm – Public Information Session
Hearing Room 1, PURA
Ten Franklin Square
New Britain, CT

PURA NOTICE-UI
Thursday, March 6, 2014
6:30 pm – Technical Meeting and Public Information Session
Hamden Middle School Auditorium
2623 Dixwell Avenue
Hamden, CT

The technical meetings on March 5 with CL&P and March 6 with UI in PURA Docket No. 12-01-10 are open to the public. Their purpose is to gather and clarify information from the utilities.

Public Comments

The public will be asked to sign up to speak at the public information sessions. Remarks should be brief and not repetitive.

When you speak, you can respond to the utility presentation, and can add new comments and information relevant to your concerns about the use of rigid line clearance standards (especially ETT/ETR) by UI and CL&P. Specific personal examples of past or potential negative impact on your home, business, neighborhood or town, because of the use of rigid line clearances (previously used only by CL&P), would be helpful. If you don’t want to speak, it is still important to attend to show your concern.

You may send a written comment to PURA before or after the meetings. There will be a short period after the meetings in which PURA will welcome written public comments, and these may be particularly effective if based on what occurred at the meetings.

Written comments should include a reference to Docket No. 12-01-10,and be sent by e-mail to Pura.executivesecretary@ct.gov and Nicholas.neeley@ct.gov or via U.S. mail to PURA, 10 Franklin Square, New Britain, CT 06051

PURA’s final decision in this docket regarding utility tree pruning and removal will apply to both utilities. PURA’s draft decision in this docket approves the use of ETT/ETR.

For updates and additional information visit The Garden Club of New Haven.

Not seeing the forest for the trees?

Photo: Bob Luckey

Read the full story by Gina Gould in The Greenwich Citizen

Over the last two months, in the wake of Hurricane Sandy, there have been 241 trees chopped down in Greenwich by CL&P, with 17 more on the chopping block.

The cutting is a result of a collaborative agreement between CL&P, Metro-North and the DOT to eliminate any and all trees along the Mianus power line that might succumb to severe winds thus disrupting power or mass transit. It is the Mianus Line that powers Greenwich and the Metro-North railway from Stamford to Greenwich.

The removal of these trees seems like a logical, proactive approach to reduce the likelihood of future power loss… MORE > Read the full story by Gina Gould in The Greenwich Citizen.

Power Struggle: Balancing the Needs of People, Power and Trees

Cries for cutting down trees before another storm hit were heard far and near. The Greenwich Tree Conservancy grew concerned that, after the power outages of Hurricane Irene in August, 2011, and the Halloween Storm in October, 2011, there were constant calls for radical tree removals as the way to reduce power outages in the future. The GTC formulated the idea of sponsoring an educational forum to provide an assessment of the storm response and identify measures that would reduce the frequency and duration of outages and improve reliability of the power supply. Working with the League of Women Voters of Greenwich and other Fairfield County towns, as well as interested Fairfield county tree organizations, the idea came to fruition on the night of February 28th.

The forum featured a panel of five stakeholders; representatives included the chair of the Governor’s Two-Storm Panel, CL&P, the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, the Connecticut Forest and Park Association and a representative from the Concord, Ma. Municipal Light Plant, a municipality that has buried many of their power wires underground.


Continue reading “Power Struggle: Balancing the Needs of People, Power and Trees”

Testimony of Executive Director JoAnn Messina for the GTC to PURA Opposing CL&P’s Enhanced Tree Trimming and Enhanced Tree Removal

I am a member of the Vegetation Management Task Force but speak as Executive Director of the Greenwich Tree Conservancy. Over 500 strong, our non-profit group’s mission is to preserve and enhance the tree and forest resources to benefit the community, its health and its quality of life. We write in opposition to the plan of Enhanced Tree Trimming and Enhanced Tree Removal. You have received many letters from our concerned residents.

I participated in the March 5 hearing in New Britain. At the presentation CL&P stated that, “We are in the business to remove trees.” Aren’t they in the business of delivering electrical power? They also answered that “We do not plan to change our program because of tree refusals.” They added that they were going to go after individuals who refused to allow them to cut their trees, if the tree subsequently came down on a wire. When did they become so removed from the citizens they serve?

We know that trees have brought down power lines but the utilities’ data does not show that clearing trees 8’ on both sides of wires, ground to sky, will alleviate those “problem” trees or curtail power outages. In Greenwich, a CL&P town, we have had several outages in the past 18 months, none of which have been due to tree failure but rather to CL&P failure. We have also seen in recent storms that the trees that have felled power lines have come from a distance. How can PURA permit such drastic measures without the data to support them? How can PURA permit CL&P and UI to fail to take into account other community needs and desecrate our towns, which will decrease our health, real estate values and environment?

We agree that reducing the threat from hazardous trees will increase safety and power reliability. The town of Greenwich is entering the 4th year of a 4 year capital campaign to remove hazardous trees. We believe this will result in fewer outages due to trees. We believe CL&P should be removing hazardous trees near the wires and pruning trees in close proximity to wires. We do not believe clear cutting ground to sky will benefit our state. We believe, where appropriate, undergrounding of wires should be seriously considered.

We are so fortunate to have a natural resource that can clean carbon dioxide from our air, reduce flooding, provide constant filtration of air and water pollution, provide wind abatement, support a diverse wildlife and bring aesthetic beauty to our daily lives. We implore the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority to refer to the prudent measures of the Vegetation Management Task Force and reject the current proposed plans of CL&P and UI.

Thank you for this opportunity to speak.

JoAnn Messina, Executive Director
Greenwich Tree Conservancy
50 Church Street
Greenwich, CT 06830

Download the testimony

Winter Solstice Eve and Winter Walk

Please join the Greenwich Tree Conservancy on the eve of the Winter Solstice 4:00 PM on December 20th at the Garden Education Center as we explore the winter woods with Denise Savageau, Conservation Director for the Town of Greenwich and Lisa Beebe, GEC Director of Horticulture.

We will discuss the beauty of the woods in winter with a focus on the branching structures of trees. Returning inside we’ll learn more about the Winter Solstice and trees as a symbol of renewal in winter holiday celebrations and conduct the Awards Ceremony for our 2012 Awesome Tree Contest, where the winning contestants will receive their awards. Refreshments will be served. Please reserve at: treeconserv@optonline.net.

April 2 – Tree Owner Panel at Sam Bridge Nursery

Please join us on Saturday, April 2 at Sam Bridge Nursery for an informative panel discussion. We’ll talk about Working with Design & Industry Professionals; Tree Protection during Construction; Natives vs. Cultivars
Tree Selection for Storms, Powerlines, etc.; Mulching, Feeding, Irrigation and more! This program is free and open to the public
RSVP requested to JoAnn Messina, GTC Executive Director at treeconserv@optonline.net or 203-869-1464.